It’s sweet vindication for Toyota after the U.S. Department of Transportation said that electric systems and electromagnetic interference played no role in unintended acceleration cases. Reports of runaway cars and the subsequent persecution led the Japanese giant to recall 11 million vehicles worldwide, including nearly 8 million in the US since 2009.
“The jury is back. The verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas. Period,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Our conclusion is Toyota’s problems were mechanical, not electrical,” he added, which means that the only proven causes are sticky pedals and floor mats and that all other allegations and testimonies have no basis. Toyota has insisted all along that electronics isn’t the cause of sudden acceleration cases.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a study on the matter 10 months ago as requested by Congress, which sought evidence to back its believe that electronics or software was the problem. “Just about every member of Congress that questioned me said ‘It’s got to be electronics’,” LaHood was quoted as saying.
With the help of NASA engineers, the study sought to determine if cases of unintended acceleration in Toyota/Lexus vehicles were caused by something other than sticky pedals and trapped floor mats. The folks at NASA examined nine vehicles with alleged braking problems and subjected them to electromagnetic interference testing. They also looked at 280,000 lines of software codes to detect any flaws that could disrupt the electronic throttle control.
“Everything is data-based. It’s not made up. It’s not based on emotion. It’s not based on some story somebody told us,” LaHood said. Interestingly, his own daughter recently bought a 2011 Toyota Sienna. “She wanted an ironclad guarantee from me that her vehicle was going to be safe. I told me daughter that she should buy the Toyota, which she did,” the Transportation Secretary revealed.
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I can only imagine those people’s looks when it was justified by NASA that its not electronic.
But with the recent call back from Toyota, wish they will give it a little more detail before releasing. I love my toyota EE90!!
Congratulations to Toyota.
Goes to show how quickly the public is ready at times to throw dirt at the big players.
Tall poppy syndrome, very nasty…
I would like to have the job of the NASA engineers, here’s 9 priuses try to break it.
i am no expert in this – but i would think that NASA engineers are mostly rocket scientists ie experts in physics, not electronics and software programming. anyway, glad for Toyota and fellow Asian manufacturers that it is over.
electromagnectic interference is not physics?
testing.
” “She wanted an ironclad guarantee from me that her vehicle was going to be safe. I told me daughter that she should buy the Toyota, which she did,” the Transportation Secretary revealed. ”
She probably got it at a huge discount!!
how much did toyota pay U.S. Dept of Transport? lol.
Likewise, you can also put it as how much GM paid for those Toyota owners to make complaints and file suits against Toyota?
wont be surprised. Toyota needed this badly.
@danny, yummy we like herbal soup too….. :-)
HAHAHA! Wanna start a club? :)
Apart from interference, look at the physical side of the electronics.
I do not think that software and interference where the causes.
Hint : Would a leaking capacitor in say, in the ECU cause the problem. Lets just say that the capacitor fluids have corroded part of the pathways of the ECU circuit board.
What will that do?
Ps. I have one camry ECU that has the same problem sitting in my cupboard.
‘“She wanted an ironclad guarantee from me that her vehicle was going to be safe. I told me daughter that she should buy the Toyota, which she did,” the Transportation Secretary revealed.’
Interestingly, that convinces me more than anything else. No father would ever give his child that assurance without him being 100% sure.
That being said, the damage has already been done. Toyota’s withholding of the possible issue is more damaging than the issue itself, in my opinion.